The present invention relates to a method for producing a ballistic protective armour according to the premeable of claim 1.
Ballistic protective armours are known as components of ballistic protective clothing in a number of different embodiments, as, for example, military helmets protecting against projectile impacts and shell splinters, as flak jackets and suchlike. For producing a protective armour of this kind, single textile layers made of highly durable fabrics are layered onto each other to form a layered structure. The textile layers of this layered structure are sewed together and subjected to a pressing step to form a laminate. A protective armour of this kind is known, for example, from the patent document U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,954 and serves in the case described in this document as a back-side reinforcement of another armouring layer, so that a high stability against the impact of a splinter is achieved.
The compactness and and rigidity of the layered structure can be improved by sewing so that the protective effect of the armouring is improved. Moreover it is known to form ballistic protective armours from laminated textile layers which absorb the energy of a striking projectile to a large extent. This is achieved by a deformation of the projectile which penetrates the outer layers of the laminate, the deformed projectile being intercepted by the remaining layers at the inner side of the armour which is to be protected, because the kinetic energy is already strongly reduced after destroying the outer layers. These remaining catching layers delaminate in parts from the penetrated outer layers so that an inward bulge is formed at the inner side of the protective armour, in which the projectile remains. Because an extensive bulging effect can lead to strong injuries of the wearer of the ballistic protective armour, for example, to severe head injuries of the wearer of a military protective helmet which is built that way, it is possible to delimit the peeling or delamination effect of the catching layers by providing seams. Thus it is possible to provide a protective armour made of a textile laminate which absorbs an impact sufficiently on one hand and keeps the person to be protected from suffering injuries on the other hand.
To ensure a wearing comfort which is as high as possible as well as an extensive protective effect, the ballistic protective armour should be adapted to the body form of its wearer. It is therefore desired to produce the armour in a large variety of different forms. This is not always achievable without problems because the inner structure of the relatively rigid textile laminate can be changed by a subsequent bending, bulging, deep drawing or the like in a way that the protective effect may be impaired all over the whole product or locally. In particular it is disadvantageous if a covering which is coated to the textile layers for forming the laminate penetrates too deep into the fibers, because the fabric of the textile layers and the yarn of the seams shall keep well-defined properties with respect to elasticity and tensile strength. For example, the protective armour disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,954 is bendable to a certain extent after sewing and subsequent pressing, but it is not spherically deformable, for example, to a hemisphere. So it is not possible to form helmet shells by that way.